Clinical course of Crohn's disease first diagnosed at surgery for acute abdomen.
BACKGROUND
The severity of clinical activity of Crohn's disease is high during the first year after diagnosis and decreases thereafter. Approximately 50% of patients require steroids and immunosuppressants and 75% need surgery during their lifetime. The clinical course of patients with Crohn's disease first diagnosed at surgery has never been investigated.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the clinical course of Crohn's disease first diagnosed at surgery for acute abdomen and to evaluate the need for medical and surgical treatment in this subset of patients.


METHODS
Hospital clinical records of 490 consecutive Crohn's disease patients were reviewed. Patients were classified according to the Vienna criteria. Sex, extraintestinal manifestations, family history of inflammatory bowel diseases, appendectomy, smoking habit and medical/surgical treatments performed during the follow-up period were assessed.


METHODS
Kaplan-Meier survival method and Cox proportional hazards regression model.


RESULTS
Of the 490 Crohn's disease patients, 115 had diagnosis of Crohn's disease at surgery for acute abdomen (Group A) and 375 by conventional clinical, radiological, endoscopic and histologic criteria (Group B). Patients in Group A showed a low risk of further surgery (Log Rank test p<0.001) and a longer time interval between diagnosis and first operation compared to Group B (10.8 years vs. 5.8 years, p<0.01, respectively). Furthermore, patients in Group A used less steroids and immunosuppressants (OR 0.3, p<0.0001; OR 0.6, p<0.004, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Crohn's disease patients first diagnosed at surgery for acute abdomen showed a low risk for reintervention and less use of steroids and immunosuppressants during follow-up than those not operated upon at diagnosis. Early surgery may represent a valid approach in the initial management of patients with Crohn's disease, at least in the subset of patients with ileal and complicated disease.
Latella
G
G
Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, GI Unit, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy. giolatel@tin.it
Cocco
A
A
Angelucci
E
E
Viscido
A
A
Bacci
S
S
Necozione
S
S
Caprilli
R
R
D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012086:Reoperation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents